Advanced Learner Loan

Students who are aged 19 or over may be eligible for an Advanced Learner Loan to pay for their tuition fees for the Foundation Diploma in Art and Design.

Impact of Brexit on student loans

Following the UK vote to leave the EU, Student Finance England has confirmed that the eligibility criteria for funding remain unchanged for EU nationals, or their family members, who will be starting a course at a university in England in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic years. Such students who are assessed as eligible to receive funding in the 2017-18 or 2018-19 academic years will be eligible for this funding for the duration of their course.

Note that the Advanced Learner Loan can cover the tuition fee and the separate registration and examination fee - see our Further Education Tuition Fees page for the amounts of each of these.

Eligibility

To be eligible for this loan at UAL you must meet certain requirements:

Studying on the Foundation Diploma Art and Design in 2018-19

Be aged 19 or over on 3 September 2018

Be living in the UK on 3 September 2018

Have been living in the UK, Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man for three years prior to the first day of the course

Be a UK national or have ‘settled’ status in the UK.

EU nationals are eligible if they have been resident in the EEA or Switzerland for three years prior to the start of the course. They must also meet the relevant age and course requirements above.

The following people may also be eligible, subject to guidance:

living outside the UK and is a serving member of the UK armed forces, their spouse/civil partner or a dependent parent living with a serving member

family members of an EU national

EEA or Swiss workers in the UK and their family members

children of Swiss nationals

children of Turkish workers

refugees or those granted humanitarian protection and their family members

those living in the UK for 20 years or half their life

those with stateless leave granted by the Home Office and their family members

Contact the Student Advice Service for detailed eligibility guidance and evidence requirements if you fall into one of these categories.

Application process

There are limited numbers of loans available to UAL students, so the loan cannot be guaranteed.

Apply for a place on the Foundation Diploma in Art & Design.

You will be provided with a Learning and Funding Information Letter from the University which you need for the loan application.

Your tuition fees will be paid directly to the University by Student Finance England.

Repayments and interest

You’ll be due to start repaying your loan in the April after you complete or leave your course. You’ll only start making repayments when your income is over £25,000 a year which is equivalent to earning £481 a week, or £2.083 a month. If your income falls below these amounts, repayments will stop and only re-start when your income is over these amounts. You will pay back 9% of the money you earn over £25,000.

If you want to make voluntary repayments, you can do so at any time by contacting the Student Loans Company.

Example repayment amounts

Your monthly repayments would be:

£15 a month - if you earned £27,000 a year

£37 a month - if you earned £30,000 a year

Interest

You are charged interest on the Advanced Learner Loan while you study until the date your loan is repaid in full. Visit the Student Loan Repayments website for details.

If you leave your course early

No payment from your loan will be made to your college or training organisation until you’ve attended your course for more than two weeks. If you leave after more than two weeks, you’ll have to pay back any loan payments that have been made, based on the length of time you attended your course. Once you stop attending, the loan payments will stop. These are the terms and conditions of the loan scheme and not UAL terms and conditions.

Help

The Student Advice Service is available to provide further information and support on financial matters related to your course.